This invention concerns a device, and the relative method, to optimize the combustion of hydrocarbons in general, and in particular those used as fuel in combustion engines, both Otto engines and Diesel engines, and in burners for heating systems or other plants.
The device and method according to the invention increase the percentage of fuel actually burnt, and obtain a consequent reduction of the residual material emitted from the exhaust pipes of the engine or from the chimney associated with the burner. We thus obtain a greater energy yield and a drastic reduction in the atmospheric pollution produced by combustion.
It is well-known that liquids in general and hydrocarbons in particular consist of molecules containing positive charges and negative charges which tend to polarize with each other, that is, they distribute themselves in an orderly manner, with each pole associated, by attraction, with the opposite pole of the nearby molecule, so that we have a natural phenomenon of surface tension.
It is also known that if no outside force is applied to a liquid formed of polarized molecules, then precisely because of the surface tension, the liquid tends not to divide below a minimum dimension and to form little drops, substantially spherical, since this is the form with the lowest energy content.
When hydrocarbons are used as fuel, the surface tension in each individual drop prevents the oxygen from combining completely and in an optimum manner with the parts of carbon at the deepest part of the drops; therefore, some of the latter do not participate in the combustion process, or else they burn badly due to the lack of oxygen.
It has also been known for a long time how combustion engines behavexe2x80x94both Otto engines using petrol, and Diesel engines using diesel oilxe2x80x94where the fuel is injected into each cylinder by means of an injection system, just before the upward, compression travel of the relative piston finishes.
Both in combustion engines and in burners, the fuel is injected in the form of one or more jets, through holes or nozzles, divides into small drops and penetrates into the combustion chamber, mixing with the air, which in turn is introduced at a particular pressure and temperature.
Therefore, we have a rapid combustion of the fuel-air mix, which occurs either caused by a controlled ignition, as in petrol engines, or spontaneously, due to the high pressure of the mixture itself, as in Diesel engines.
One of the disadvantages of known systems is that not all the fuel mixed with the air and introduced into the combustion chamber is burnt, so that a part of its energyxe2x80x94which may even be considerablexe2x80x94is not used, but expelled from the engine or the burner through the exhaust pipe or, respectively, the chimney. This has very harmful effects both for the outer environment, which is polluted, and also for the energy cost in general, considering the cost of the hydrocarbons.
The state of the art includes, among others, the documents EP-A-0652362, EP-A-0894969, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,830,621, 3,943,407, 3,976,726 and 5,331,807.
To be more exact, EP-A-0652362 describes a device and method to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel by means of a magnetic field generated by a generator of rectangular pulses having a frequency of between 10 and 200 Hz.
EP-A-0894969 describes a device in which the frequency of the pulses which generate the magnetic field are between 1,000 and 5,000 Hz.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,726 describes a device to activate the fuel wherein a coil, associated with the fuel pipe, generates a frequency in a range of 16-42 MHz.
The present Applicant has devised, tested and embodied this invention to overcome these shortcomings and to obtain further advantages.
The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claims, while the dependent claims describe other innovative characteristics of the invention.
The main purpose of the invention is to achieve a device and method which will optimize the combustion of hydrocarbons and which will make possible that the whole quantity of fuel introduced into an engine or a burner, even the innermost parts of every single drop, can give up its inner energy.
In accordance with this purpose, the device and method according to the invention use a magnetic field, advantageously of the pulsating type, generated in correspondence with the fuel feed pipe. The magnetic field is able to induce vibrations in the individual drops of fuel which reduce the surface or pellicular tension in the drops.
In this way, the drops of fuel are not only agitated, and therefore mix more easily with the oxygen comburent, but each of them is also broken up and fractionated into tiny parts. Each micro-drop, or fraction of drop, can thus interact and combine completely with the oxygen and burn totally, give up all its energy and not remain unburned.
The phenomenon of vibration, characteristic of the magnetic field, also affects the behavior of the atoms and the typical frequencies of the orbits of the electrons, for example of the carbon contained in the hydrocarbon which, at an innermost level, enter more easily into combination with those of the oxygen, thus encouraging the phenomenon of oxide reduction during the combustion step.
The magnetic field is generated by the passage of a variable current in a solenoid coil associated with the pipe through which the fuel flows. The magnetic field acts on the molecules of the fuel, making them more reactive to combustion.
A percentage of molecules in the fuel acts as a catalyzer to the reaction, extending the field of inflammability of the fuel-air mixture. This allows, for example in Diesel engines, the self-ignition of a set mixture at a lower temperature and pressure, with the consequent result that the engine gives a better performance with the same consumption; or it allows self-ignition at pre-set temperature and pressure, with lower concentrations of fuel, with the result that the engine uses less fuel with the same performance.
The device according to the invention is able to positively influence the functioning of the engine on which it is installed, as if the engine itself, in the case of a Diesel engine, were fed with a fuel with a higher cetane rating. The reduced delay at ignition, and the more careful control of combustion, make the engine trimmer and less rough.
Moreover, when the device according to the invention is applied, we obtain a longer duration of the combustion step with a controlled mix, and a consequent reduction in the formation of particulate, since the fuel does not stagnate in the combustion chamber in richer zones in the quantity of jet, where particulate is typically formed, but is made available for combustion.
In engines where the device according to the invention is installed, with the same power delivered, it is possible to reduce the quantity of fuel fed with the advantage of reduced consumption.
According to one characteristic of the invention, the magnetic field is generated by a signal with a modulated amplitude. To be more exact, an electric circuit generates a carrier with a frequency between 1 and 30 MHz, advantageously about 20 MHz, which is then modulated in amplitude between a value of zero and a defined value V1, a few volts, advantageously from 6 to 12 V, so as to generate bunches of pulses with a modulating frequency of between 50 and 1,000 Hz.
The invention provides that the feed pipe for the comburent is also affected by radio waves of the pulsating type: they are generated by a suitable aerial and are in the form of bunches of pulses which generate the magnetic field associated with the fuel feed pipe. The radio waves are also able to positively influence the aforesaid magnetic field, interacting therewith.